Browsing by Author "Trayek, Fuad A. A."

Electronic learning (e-learning) is an instructional method that delivers learning content electronically whether through synchronous or asynchronous online modes, or through multimedia platforms such as CD-ROMs or DVDs. In Israeli-occupied Palestine, e-learning is a viable means of offering continuous education to Palestinians, especially in war-stricken zones such as Nablus. This study explored the readiness level of the secondary school teachers in Nablus to adopt e-learning in three important aspects: technological readiness, psychological readiness and equipment readiness. It also examined whether male and female teachers differed in their perspectives of e-learning readiness. A total of 475 teachers (236 males and 239 females) sampled from 24 secondary schools in Nablus participated in the survey that employed a 23-item self constructed questionnaire measuring technological, psychological, and equipment readiness on a 5-point Likert scale. The items were first content validated by experts and pilot-tested before being administered to the respondents. The data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, Cohen’s d for effect sizes, and Pearson’s product-moment correlation tests. The results showed that secondary school teachers in Nablus were quite psychologically ready to use e-learning, but this aspect was not equally supported by technological and equipment readiness. Technological, equipment and psychological readiness were all found to be significant correlated with e-learning readiness with very strong influences. Statistically significant gender differences were detected for technological, equipment and overall e-learning readiness, but not for psychological readiness. However, the magnitude of the differences were considered small based on the interpretation of Cohen’s d for effect sizes. The findings have important implications on what the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Nablus school principals need to put in place in order to better prepare their teachers and schools for e-learning.

This study profiled the digital citizenship behaviour of university undergraduates from four ethnic groups, i.e. African, Arab, Asian and Caucasian, and examined the influence of religion, religious orientation, and ethnicity on these behaviours. Based on Ribble`s nine dimensions of digital citizenship, the study established the underlying structure of students` adherence to appropriate and acceptable use of digital technology, and thereafter, validated the psychometric properties of the digital citizenship and religious orientation scales and measurement model. The data for this exercise were drawn from 2,000 African, Arab, Asian and Caucasian undergraduates from 15 different countries via a multistage sampling process. Two subscales were used to capture the data. The first was a 21-item digital citizenship subscale rated on a 5-point frequency category, while the second, a religious orientation subscale with 9 items rated on a 5-point agreement category. The subscales were pilot-tested with 600 undergraduates to establish their validity and reliability prior to the actual data collection. The data were first analyzed descriptively to profile the undergraduates` conformity to digital citizenship practices, and then split into three parts for Exploratory Factor Analysis (N = 400), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (N = 400), and Structural Equation Modeling (N = 1,200). The EFA extracted five underlying dimensions of digital citizenship, namely digital commerce, digital security, digital rights and responsibilities, digital etiquette, and classroom ethics, with a variance explained of 53.84%. Of the five digital citizenship dimensions, the undergraduates showed the closest adherence to digital rights and responsibilities, where minimal differences were observed among the four ethnic groups. However, violations of digital etiquette and classroom ethics were prevalent among all ethnic groups, particularly the Caucasians. The CFA confirmed a five-factor measurement model of digital citizenship, and provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the digital citizenship subscale, hence extending current understanding about important attributes of digital citizenship. The SEM results explained a causal relationship between religious orientation and digital citizenship moderated by religion. The results suggest that religious orientation is a likely influencer of digital citizenship behaviour, an idea that warrants attention from tertiary learning institutions for awareness training on responsible and appropriate use of digital technology. The results also call for proactive measures from parents, university lecturers, university administrators, education policy makers, and students themselves in making sure that digital citizenship is practiced and adhered to by relevant digital technology users.